An American at Hogwarts: Book Two

Chapter Thirty-Seven

A/N: Sorry this is like ten hours later than usual, I didn't have time to proof read and post it before work

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When I woke up the next morning, I felt like I was floating on air. The only thing that seemed to matter was that Cedric loved me, and I loved him back. Then, after about ten seconds, I remembered the rest of the world existed. We were taking on dragons today, and I had no time to lay around daydreaming like a character in a romance novel.

I hopped out of bed and, since it was early enough, I decided to go back to my usual morning run routine. A long endurance workout was exactly what I needed to clear my head and bleed off all the excess emotions I was feeling right now.

Viktor didn't show up, and I couldn't blame him. I'd been pretty much unreachable since Sunday trying to juggle school work and get ready for this task; I understood him not wanting to run laps on the morning he and Milena were expected to face a dragon.

I went to breakfast feeling better, but not that much better. I'd achieved my goal of focusing on the dragon, but now I was just feeling incredibly anxious to face whatever lie ahead. I was going to be face to face with a dragon in just a few hours, and there was nothing I could do to put it off or make it come sooner. By the time I finished my toast and started wandering to Herbology with my friends, I would've taken either option. Like so many other times this semester, the waiting was the thing really killing me.

I was antsy all morning, especially since I didn't have any classes with Cedric. We couldn't do any last-minute talking or preparing; the next time we'd see each other would be at the first task, and by then it'd be too late to change the plan.

Arithmancy was my last lesson before lunch, and at the end of class Professor Vector told me to go grab something to eat from the Great Hall before heading out to the first task, which was apparently just past a section of the Forbidden Forest.

I didn't take her advice. I'd made myself eat a good, big breakfast, but if I tried to eat anything right now I'd probably puke. The nerves were seriously starting to get to me, and all the conversations Charlie and I had over the summer about dragons were not helping.

As I headed out the front doors, deciding to just find my own way to the task and get there a little early, I thought I saw Charlie walking a little ways ahead of me, like thinking about him had somehow summoned him. I'd just about convinced myself it wasn't really him, and that I was having some stress-induced hallucination that took the form of Charlie because of the dragons, when he turned around and grinned at the sight of me.

"Alexa!" he called, waving as he walked back towards me. "I was hoping I'd find you!"

"Charlie! Oh my gosh, I can't believe you're really here!" I ran the rest of the distance across the lawn and gave Charlie a tackle-hug as a way of saying hello. "I thought I was just going crazy!"

"What?" asked Charlie, laughing a little as we pulled apart and he gave me a confused look. I just waved him off.

"Never mind, it's not important. What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for the Tournament!" he said happily. The two of us started heading away from the castle again, towards the site of the first task. "I can't really tell you more than that, but—"

"Actually, I hate to break it to you, but I know the first task is dragons."

Charlie looked surprised, his eyebrows shooting up when I cut him off mid-sentence.

"How on Earth do you know that?"

"The secret got out to all the champions," I said with a shrug. "I guess dragons are just a little too big of a thing to keep secret. Oh, and thank you for sending me all those dragon pictures by the way, I hung them up in my dorm room!"